Rustam and Mihrafroz prepare for their wedding
Can I see it?
Not on view at present
Where is “Rustam and Mihrafroz prepare for their wedding” now? Collection: Victoria and Albert Museum, London. Not on view at present. Checked September 25, 2026.
London, United Kingdom
It belongs to the collection, but is not on display at present.
- Checked
- In this state since
- Source
- The museum
About the painting
The Hamzanama, or 'Book of Hamza' was commissioned by the great Mughal emperor Akbar in the mid-16th century. The epic story of a character based very loosely on the life of the uncle of the Prophet Muhammad chronicles the fantastic adventures of Hamza as he and his band of heroes fight against the enemies of Islam. The stories, from a long-established oral tradition, were written down in Persian, the language of the court, in multiple volumes. These originally had 1400 illustrations, of which fewer than 200 survive today. The only contemporary version of the text is that on the reverse of the few remaining paintings, making it difficult to reconstruct the stories. Work on the project probably began in about 1562 and took 15 years to complete.
Read on
Here, Rustam and Mihr Afruz prepare for their wedding feast in garden pavilions enclosed by tent walls. All the faces of the living beings depicted, whether humans or birds, have been deliberately erased, probably in the 19th century.
Victoria and Albert Museum
Details
- Accession number
- IS.1519-1883
What it shows
In the catalog
Sources
- Victoria and Albert Museum
- Image: Victoria and Albert Museum — © Victoria and Albert Museum, London
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